A number of companies and institutions including banks, credit card companies, utility companies, and mail-order houses send out large quantities of bills to their customers on a monthly basis. For the customer's convenience, an invoice stub and a return envelope are generally included with each mailing. When paying their bills, customers typically enter a payment amount on the invoice stub and mail the stub, accompanied by a payment in the form of a bank check or money order, in the return envelope provided.
When processing incoming mail sent by customers, a company typically sorts, either automatically or manually, the mail into selected groups before extracting the contents from the envelopes. In general, such sorting improves the efficiency of the company's mail handling operation. For instance, "singles", which include envelopes with a single invoice stub and a check, are generally separated from the remaining envelopes. The singles can then be diverted to a high-speed automated extractor, which extracts the contents from the envelopes very efficiently. Even if manual extraction is utilized, separating singles from the remaining envelopes results in overall processing efficiency. However, the efficiencies realized from separating singles from a group of envelopes diminishes when address change check-off boxes are used by companies.
As a further convenience to customers, an address change check-off box is usually provided on either the invoice stub or on the return envelope. If a customer's mailing address is incorrect or has changed, the customer is encouraged to request an address change by marking the check-off box with a check or an "X". The customer is further instructed to cross out the incorrect portions of the mailing address on the invoice stub and to write the correct information in a space provided. In this way, the entered changes are forwarded to the company when the customer mails his payment.
Additional check-off boxes may be provided on return envelopes or invoice stubs for various other purposes. For example, a customer may request information about a company's service by marking one check-off box or may place an order for a product by marking another check-off box. All such requests are also forwarded to the company when the customer sends his payment.
Most companies are very concerned about detecting and processing address changes requests in a reliable manner since inaccurate customer addresses result in late payment, and in some instances non-payment, of bills. In addition, reliable address change detection is an important factor contributing to good customer relations. Naturally, customers are happier when their first address change request is accurately detected and processed. With this in mind, companies continually seek the most reliable and efficient methods, either automated or manual, for detecting address change requests.
On the one hand, automated detection of address change requests is more desirable than manual detection because of the lower cost associated with automated processing. However, reliable detection of address change requests using automated systems is complicated, and in many instances compromised, by two significant factors. First, variations encountered during printing of documents oftentimes result in imprecise location of check-off boxes. As a result, automated systems that require exact positioning of check-off boxes may completely miss a marked box or may mistakenly confuse the outline of the box for a customer's marking. Second, customers mark check-off boxes in a number of ways. Therefore, an automated search for a particular type of mark is not practical. For example, some customers check or draw an "X" in the box, while other customers draw a single line or completely color in the box.
On the other hand, manual, instead of automated, detection of address change requests is generally preferred when reliability, rather than cost, is the company's primary concern. A human operator is better suited to detect and adjust for irregularities in printing and variations in customers' markings. However, the cost of labor makes manual sorting very expensive. Consequently, until now, companies were required to balance the benefits and drawbacks provided by automated sorting versus the benefits and drawbacks resulting from manual sorting.
In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus and method are provided to enable reliable detection of markings on documents. The use of the apparatus, in accordance with the present invention, permits efficient and dependable sorting and processing of envelopes and documents.